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Alastair Barlow, flinder
www.flindereffect.com
Alastair Barlow, flinder

Meet the AccountingWEB Expo speakers: Alastair Barlow

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In our Q&A series, we talk to flinder’s Alastair Barlow about the sessions he’s hosting at AccountingWEB Live Expo plus what he’s missed about live events.

5th Oct 2021
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Alastair Barlow is co-founder at flinder. The Accounting Excellence award winning firm provides accounting, consulting and rich real-time management information for growing businesses. flinder is an international and multiple award-winning accounting, consulting and data analytics business.

As well as his work with fast-growth businesses and transforming finance functions, Alastair sits on the ACCA Practitioner's Panel Network and was shortlisted as Business Person of the Year in 2019. flinder won three Accounting Excellence Awards in 2019 (New Firm of the Year, Innovative Firm of the Year and Fast-track Firm of the Year), retaining the Fast-track Firm of the Year award in 2020.

Alastair is a regular contributor to AccountingWEB. He has written a monthly column, appeared on countless AccountingWEB Live and Accounting Excellence shows and contributed countless articles on the axis between the high street, data-driven advisory and smart tech.

Alastair is a member of the AccountingWEB Live Expo Advisory Board. He will be hosting various panels at AccountingWEB Live Expo

Alastair's latest article praising timesheets will be recreated as a live debate on day one of AccountingWEB Live Expo, where he will be joined by Lucy Cohen and taking on Reza Hooda in a debate chaired by Carl Reader. Not a session to be missed!

Register for the Expo now and keep an eye for the full conference programme from 4th October. 

What have you missed about live events, Alastair?

People! I’ve missed catching up, brainstorming and sharing ideas/learning from others that comes from informal chats!

Which stands/booths will you be visiting first and why?

After saying hello to friends from ApprovalMax, Silverfin, Telleroo, GI Outsourcing and Capitalise I will be heading to all the Open Banking talks – it’s an area I think we’ll see a lot of opportunity. I’m keen to make the most of the networking opps.

Anything around strategy, growth and leadership I always find fascinating as a business leader. Anything that can inspire me is where I will be heading!

Looking at the programme, it’s fair to say there will be a lot to pack in over two days.

What AccountingWEB Live Expo sessions are you looking forward to attending? What speakers do you want to see?

Clearly, I’m most looking forward to my own and sharing experiences with others!

You’re booked to talk on and host plenty of panels at the Expo, including ‘How to build an online advisory firm’. Tell us something about what you'll be discussing.

Value. I think every accountant delivers an element of advisory but as value and advisory go hand in hand, for me it all starts with what does your client base value.

You’ll also be doing ‘How to smash the £1m barrier session’…

This is a follow-on session from our very popular Accounting Excellence Talk webinar for AccountingWEB Live Digital. We’ll be discussing what we needed in place at flinder from a people, process and quality perspective to break through this barrier and keep going.

Lockdown meant we all skipped a buying season. AccountingWEB Live Expo gives accountants a chance to try before they buy. What are you shopping for at the Expo?

Inspiration and ideas more than anything – I’m keen to see what innovations others are building into their businesses and tech stacks.

MTD is a big topic for pretty much every AccountingWEB Live Expo theatre. What do you think accounting needs to be better prepared for MTD in 2022?

Probably an unpopular view but I think everyone just needs to get on with it. But it’s easy for me to say as we’re a corporate boutique with no personal tax clients.

We will be announcing the shortlists for our Software Awards on the evening of Day One. Which vendor would win your own personal software award and why?

Capitalise! I think what Capitalise are doing to democratise lending and supporting accountants with capital advisory to ultimately get funds into the hands of British businesses is fantastic.

What do you think will be the buzzword of AccountingWEB Live Expo?

People!

Why should someone attend a panel with you on it?

I give a no-BS view of our experiences! I’m pretty direct and liberal with what we’ve learnt along the way, so if you’re looking to hear real lessons from someone that’s been there and got it both right and wrong, then come along!

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Alastair will be speaking at AccountingWEB Live Expo on 1-2 December 2021 alongside such guests as Rebecca Benneyworth, Peter Rayney, Paul Aplin, Anita Monteith, Carl Reader, Steve Collings, Reza Hooda plus representatives from HMRC. 

AccountingWEB Live Expo takes place on 1-2 December 2021 at Coventry Build Society Arena, Coventry. Registration is now open. Please visit the AccountingWEB Live Expo website for full details and to sign up to our newsletter.

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